One Of *Those* Days

Have you ever had one of those days where it is just one thing after another?  It can be so frustrating!  I'm convinced I'm bound to have one of those days at least once a week.  When you have three kids, a husband, and other responsibilities things can't always go right, or as planned.  There are just too many variables.

I had some paint color-matched so that I would have some touch-up paint for my trim and walls.  I touched up a couple places on my dining room wall.  When it dried it was totally off-colored.  What a waste of money!  So I put the paint can in the mud room.

  A couple hours later Rhett and I were hanging out in the kitchen and I see his face turn towards the mud room and his jaw drops to the floor.  He slowly says, "Oh. My. Gosh."  I ran over to him and see the paint bucket had tipped on it's side and half of the paint in the can had spilled all over the linoleum floor.  My first reaction was, "Well I don't care for the linoleum too much anyways, lets just paint the rest of it white!" 

That was soon followed by laughing while mopping up lots of white paint and throwing away a pair of flip-flops.  Because well, who would only throw away the ruined one? haha

This whole paint fiasco was just after finding out that 4 full gallons of paint that was meant for my living room and bedroom got ruined while freezing in sub-zero temperatures out in my garage over the winter.

I guess my point is, when things just seem to just be getting worse and worse, sometimes your attitude is the only thing you can control.  I know these are piddly little problems or hiccups, but if you can't laugh at those- then when much bigger issues arise, you will have an even harder time looking for the positive.  

None of us can escape from hardships in life either.  They are inevitable.  But so are good times.  I would much rather go through this life seeing the positive sides of things rather than just focus on the negative   I'm definitely not perfect either, but I'm trying every day to be a happier more positive person all around.

I couldn't put it any more eloquently than that of what President Gordon B. Hinckley said.

  

Here is the link to that article. 

From Boring to Beautiful

I wonder why they don't install thermostats in more inconspicuous places.  You know, like in a closet, or even next to a outlet or light switch.  But no, mine is smack dab in the middle of my hallway.  I'm sure there are good reasons to put them in such obvious places, but it doesn't change the fact that they are not pretty and well... an eyesore.  So what can you do, except ignore that ugly eye sore unless you need it?  

Make it pretty!

I found this cute frame from where else then a thrift store for two bucks!  Here it is in it's original glory.

Bye bye creepy owl picture!  

All I did was pop out the maniacal owl picture and glass, then spray painted the frame with Rust-Oleum's heirloom white in satin.  It is the perfect creamy white color.  In only two light and even coats it covered the brassy and black frame completely, which was awesome.

Then, I decided I wanted the frame easily removable so that I can easily take it off if I need to mess with the thermostat.  The problem was that I didn't have anywhere to nail in a picture hook because the frame is plastic.  So I ran to Lowe's and picked up the 3M Command Picture Hanging Strips.  I had never used these, but they seemed to fit the bill for what I needed.  I LOVE these.  Seriously.  I never want to nail a hole in my wall again!

These could really come in handy with what I want to do with this hallway...

I would love to do a beautiful, interesting gallery hallway. Like this one at Young House Love:

{Image Via: Young House Love}

Or this one from 4 Men 1 Lady:

{Image Via: 4Men1Lady}

I love the interest that both of these bring to an otherwise uninteresting space.  In the meantime though, I'm just happy to have dressed up my thermostat...

I never knew that sentence would come out of my mouth! haha!

Finally got a handle on it!

I love my espresso, knotty alder, shaker style kitchen cabinets.  Like, love love!  But there was something missing.  Both visually and functionally.

Cabinet Pulls!

So we set out for the home improvement store to see what we could find.  We found these awesome contemporary style cabinet pulls that I remember seeing in a kitchen from the Parade of Homes last year.

{Picture taken during the 2012 Cache Valley Parade of Homes}

I loved this kitchen, and that is where my inspiration for what I wanted my cabinets to look like came from.  So we bought (32!) cabinet pulls and went home and got to work!

Here is what we did-

The small print on the pictures are: 

1. Make a template for your handle so you know where to mark the holes.

2. Use a nail set to make an indentation.

3. Now you know where to drill!

4. Use a drill to make the hole and make sure to keep it straight and not on an angle.

5. Tighten the screw on top and bottom through the hole and into the handle.

~Repeat 32 times!~

The end result after attaching THIRTY-TWO cabinet handles/pulls was this!

I couldn't be happier with the them!

But our cabinets aren't finished yet.  We bought some crown molding to attach to the top of the cupboards to give them a more upgraded, less builder-grade look!

So stay tuned for that!  

Also, we have started a painting project in our Boys' room that I'm hoping to get finished up this week.  Here is a little sneak peak!